Legal & Ethical Issues

Contracts

When paid to make create a promotional video for a client, I will need both a signed contract containing the legal expectations and conditions of the job. The client will also take my role more seriously and will know the clear terms and consequences of breaking our agreement, whilst also solidifying my image as a professional videographer. There are different contracts used within this industry, some examples are:

Actor release forms
An Actor release form is a legal document between the Videographer and the actor and is a form of permission for the actor allowing you to publish their image commercially and for marketing purposes.

License rights

A license agreement is between a video's copyright owner, in this case being me, and other users that would like the right to use my product. Licensing allows the legal sharing of this product, this license can be for an exclusive right to use the product, this meaning that another company can't use the video legally. Other uses of the license can consist of: price, limit the video's use and other things.

Property release forms

A legal release form signed by the owner of the property which is being used in a photograph or video. This grants the videographer permission to use or publish the video in many forms. This would be especially important within my plans as I would need to use these to help prevent legal action when working in other people's homes.

Copyright

When looking at the copyright laws a videographer would have to follow it comes apparent that any footage shot is the sole property of the one recording within the exception of any legal agreements made such as the license rights mentioned earlier "According to the Copyright Act of 1976, the creator of a work is the owner of the copyright to that work, unless other explicit, written legal arrangements have been made."(Levy, 2011). Typically the work created by a videographer will be owned by the company hiring them but the creator although not typically be able to use clips of their work due to copyright reasons, they can still take credit for creating it.

Software Licensing

A software license is a document or contract that provides legally binding guidelines for the use and distribution of software. These licenses typically provide users with the right to one or more copies of the software without violating copyright infringement laws. The license will also have terms and conditions and include restrictions imposed on how the software could be used. The terms and conditions of these licenses include clauses about fair use, warranties, disclaimers, and protection of the software. An example of a piece of software that I would need to gather the license for is Premiere pro, I would use this to edit my final piece.

Invasion of Privacy

The law in the UK does not prevent you from taking photographs or videos in public spaces, as long as you are not harassing people, or taking indecent images. Many people get confused about what is public and what is private. Some shopping centers, car parks, parks, and private structures are in fact privately controlled and it is illegal to take images without prior permission. You do not have to get permission from people you video whilst in a public place. However, if you are planning to use the video commercially or use it to promote a product then you need to get the subject to sign an actor release form. Harassment is illegal and is a behaviour that causes another person to distress over multiple time periods. For example, stalking someone to get an image or video of them or repeatedly putting a camera in their face, could be construed as harassment. Also, using a telephoto lens in a public place, to see into a private place, i.e. someone’s bedroom, this could also be considered harassment.

Libel

Another legal issue in video production is the defamation of character or harming another’s reputation. Defamation, when printed or broadcast, is called Libel, and defamation, when spoken, is called Slander. When it comes to suing the media, it is your responsibility to prove that: a journalist or media outlet published a false statement or accusation about you, the person accusing you acted deliberately and negligently, the false statement caused you harm. Defamation can come in many forms and often are in images/video and as a videographer, it is my responsibility not to slander someone's reputation.

Ethical Issues

Ethics within video making are the principles that guide how videos are produced and shared. Ethics are subjective and this means that ethics vary from one country to another, the ethics in the UK will be totally different from ethics in Shanghai. Whenever directing/producing a video you must ask how you can respect the dignity of those your subject material is based around. If we are not ethical in our production we would lose the respect of our audiences and clients. Ethical issues that occur within the video production community tends to be typically based around casting issues, with some casting officials and directors turning down actors better fit for the role due to their skin color or other prejudice reasons, although these members of staff have the right to choose the actors they believe fit best, it is their responsibility give each turned down actor a valid reason for their denial to help create clarity and a lack of confusion behind their denial.

For years digitally altered images and misleading shots during a video have been a controversial topic, especially in beauty adverts. Remarks about body expectations in women and children and that digitally enhanced adverts are harmful to average people due to the misleading contributions to consumers. Debates are always sparked about how difficult it is to be healthy in a world full of unnatural, oversexed unhealthy women on televisions. Also, there is controversy over police adding features on photo line-ups to make identifying the suspect harder. This just shows that retouching has become a normal regular practice and can make life harder for people with mental health issues who are subjected to watching these adverts on the television and on social media from stars who enhance their images to appeal to the masses. It is not just people in adverts and social media. It is also product advertising such as food. Many food products are touched up in real life to make them look more appealing. Such as boot polish on burgers to make them look more chargrilled, glue in cereal instead of milk so the cereal does not sink. All of these are ethical issues and are not always upheld within the advertising industry.

Another Ethical Issue that occurs during film making and advertising is the over-sexualization of women, this is an ethical issue that occurs through all stages of production with some females actors missing out on big roles within movies or tv spots due to being passed up for someone better looking, this is a problem within the video creating community as it portrays directors and casting groups in a very negative light while also passing up good actors on roles that would help forward their careers due to their appearance. This is also an ethical issue when it comes to the audience's perspective, in only hiring physically attractive women in roles it portrays women in an over sexual way influencing what the audience believes especially in younger audiences that they need to be attractive.

As a video maker, it is my responsibility to make sure I don't allow my work to run into these ethical issues and hold my work to a professional standard that does not negatively affect any person or group of people.